Redmond Art Works — Attraction in Redmond

Brought my niece and hubby here for vday and we had a great time! There was several types of craft for my niece to choose from to keep her occupied while painted a pottery. The room was very spacious and no one sat too close together. My only gripe was the younger lady that was helping us at first wasn't so nice. She wouldn't let us choose our own stuff; instead she said she would bring us an assortment of stuff. I figured it must be cuz of covid. Which was fine. But then she only brought us some colored pencils, markers, construction paper, scissors, some jewels, and a glue stick. None of the other crafts like the sparkles, twist ties, and cute stuff you can stick onto the paper. On top of that, the construction paper she gave us was all crinkled and the glue stick was dried out. I went and grabbed another glue stick on my own cuz I didn't want to "trouble" her again. There was an older lady (manager/owner?) there that was so much nicer and totally made up for it. She was super friendly, knowledgeable about the crafts, and very patient. My niece is 6 which is that age where sometimes they say stuff and you have no choice but to leave a "..." silence. But she just smiled and answered her questions and even tried to share extra knowledge with my niece. Patience. Bravo. We'll be picking up our pottery items soon. Can't wait to see what...

Redmond Art Works is a fantastic center for inspiring creativity and learning. My son (14) has taken several summer workshops and always leaves with a huge smile and full of ideas about what to create next. His art skills have also improved dramatically with their coaching. Getting middle school boys to have fun is a tough skill, and they definitely have it. What I love about Redmond Art Works is that rather than forcing kids into some mold by making identical art projects, they let the kids use their own creativity and provide tools and coaching to make something great. I have also enjoyed dropping in for open hours with my son to paint pottery or do clay together. Its easier to talk to teens while you're doing something, so we've had some wonderful talks there. The space is welcoming and friendly. I also really enjoy taking adult classes - especially pottery. I love how they have different options, so you can choose to do a one time workshop or you can sign up for an ongoing class. It makes it easier for a busy mom like me to find time to do something just for myself. The evening/no kids hours are also wonderful - relaxing music, chill atmosphere - even have the option to buy wine or snacks...

Our team came here for a work (team bonding) event, and the staff was incredibly responsive for setting up booking times. They allowed us to pay early as well, although their normal procedure is to pay the minimum and then add if necessary if you're unsure of the numbers. Unlike the last time I was here, they now paint it for you, which I think while somewhat more boring, does make a work event much easier (because it would be quite difficult to make the same exact group be entirely available to come back to paint it for a second round). You can still pick from a couple paint choices!

The instructor was excellent. The instructions were simple but clear, and then there was plenty of time for us to practice and get it right if we wanted, but also if throwing the pottery just wasn't our thing, they also provided an alternate craft to do instead (after instruction). This worked especially well for the one member in our group who had extremely long nails and wasn't feeling trying to work too long around them, and was able to make cute Christmas tree votives instead.

I haven't picked up the pieces yet, but I'm pretty excited...